Desizeme - Dieting, Weight Loss, Calorie Control

Bulky Filling Foods Under 100 Calories per 100g to Suppress Appetite

Trying to lose weight is often more about replacing foods in your diet rather than trying to starve by cutting down the amount of food you eat. If you can replace calorie dense foods like pizza, fries or chocolate cookies with bulky foods that have few calories in them, you will feel fuller for longer, and so will eat less. This is not rocket science.

If the food you eat has fewer calories per serve this will help you lose weight. If the food you eat is bulky and rich in fiber and protein such as celery, Brussels sprouts or cabbage, it will take longer to digest, it will stay in your stomach longer and it will suppress you appetite. If you don't feel hungry you will be less tempted to eat snacks between meals.

Many people have claimed that foods such as celery are 'negative calorie foods'. It is claimed that some foods require more energy to digest and process them in the intestine than they contain.

While this claim has been shown to be a myth, except for extreme cases the principle is nevertheless valid - Replacing high calorie foods with bulky foods rich in fiber, but with very low calories, will help you lose weight.

Artichokes are a good food for weight loss because they have only 47 Calories, 3g of protein and 5g of fiber per 100 g. Source: Public Domain

Finding Healthy Low Calorie Foods That Fill You UP

So how do you find suitable foods? You can quickly eliminate meat and dairy product and most baked goods. Nuts and dried fruits also contain relatively high calories for their weight and volume. The best option is fruit and vegetables, but even some of these contain high natural sugars.

Basically what is required is to look for foods that have relatively low calorie counts for a given serving weight. Most calorie charts do not allow you to make these comparisons because the serving sizes are all different.

So for this article calorie and other nutrition data were compiled for common fruits and vegetables with the serving size standardized to 100g.

Strictly speaking calorie density refers to the volume of the food, but having a standard weight is a good approximation for fruit and vegetables which have similar densities.

Lowest Calorie Foods for a Serving of 100g

The table below provides a list of 100 fruit and vegetables ranked from lowest to highest number of calories. All of the food have less than 100 calories per 100g.

The top twenty foods with the lowest calories per 100g are shown below with their calorie counts:

cress, garden , 11

watercress , 12

taro shoots , 12

cucumber, 12

cabbage, Chinese (pak-choi) , 13

lettuce, butterhead , 13

lettuce, green leaf , 14

endive , 16

celery , 16

radishes , 16

lettuce, cos or romaine , 17

cardoon , 17

squash, zucchini, 18

tomato, 18

chard, swiss , 19

asparagus , 20

peppers, sweet, 20

beet greens , 21

borage , 21

java-plum, jambolan, 21

rhubarb , 22

As expected most of them are vegetables. Celery is in the top 10, along with cucumber, cabbage and lettuce.

Foods With Low Calories, but Moderate Levels of Protein

Many of the lowest calorie foods, such as lettuce, celery and cabbage are basically not very nutritious.

The first compromise is to choose low calorie foods that have good levels of protein. This may be very important for vegetarians, especially vegans.

The chart and food listing opposite was produced using a formula.The number of calories was subtracted form the amount of protein multiplied by 15, to derive and index.

The best 15 for the compromise between calories and protein were:

alfalfa seeds, sprouted

taro leaves

chrysanthemum, garland

watercress

spinach

mustard greens

asparagus

beet greens

bamboo shoots

cabbage, Chinese (pak-choi)

broccoli

chard, swiss

Brussels sprouts

All the top 10 were vegetables.

Foods With Low Calories, but Moderate Levels of Fiber

Fiber in food is important not only because it adds bulk and slows down the digestion rate, but it has many health benefits, including helping to lower cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart attacks. For the chart opposite was produced using a similar index to that used for protein. The number of calories was subtracted from the amount of fiber multiplied by 15 to derive and index.

The best 12 for the compromise between fiber and calories were:

feijoa

blackberries

beet greens

artichoke

elderberries

endive

eggplant

kohlrabi

kumquats

chrysanthemum, garland

collards

cranberries

Many of the top 20 were fruits, many of which contain more fiber than vegetables.

Foods With Low Calories, but Moderate Levels of BOTH Fiber and Protein

The final list was prepared using an index that included fiber, protein and calories.The top 15 food rich in BOTH protein and fiber but low in calories are:

Kumquats are a great food for weight loss with only 71 Calories, 2g of protein and 6g of fiber per 100 g. Source: Public DomainThe average 'UpSized' meal at fast food outlets averages 1,550 Calories which is about 80% of the daily allowance for men and women . Source: Public DomainThe concept of a negative calorie food is a myth, but many foods contribute effectively zero or very low calories and so are good for diets. Source: Public DomainBrussel Sprouts are an excellent food for weight loss. They only have 43 Calories, 3 g of protein and 4 g of fiber per 100 g. Source: Public DomainLow calorie density food list for weight control and dieting. Source: Public DomainThe myth of negative calorie foods, that require more calories to digest than they contain has been debunked, but many foods have very low calories and are great for dieting. Source: Public DomainChart of calories in 100 g serving of low calorie density gems for helping you to lose weight and keep it off. Source: Public DomainThe key trick to losing weight is simple - Eat Less. Eating bulky foods helps to fill you up so you eat less of the processed high fat and high calorie foods. Source: Public DomainFruit is very helpful for diets, but be careful as many fruits have relatively high calories via natural sugars, so eat sparingly. Source: Public Domain